YouTube Suspends Donald Trump Channel
Google streaming service YouTube becomes latest social network to suspend President Donald Trump, following attempted insurrection
YouTube has suspended the account of US President Donald Trump for seven days, and has warned it may extend the period.
The Google service is preventing his channel from uploading new videos or live-streaming, and the suspension is because a recent video had incited violence, YouTube told CNN Business. That video has now been removed.
It comes after President Trump uploaded a number of videos to his channel on Tuesday night after he visited Texas to inspect the 12 miles of ‘the wall’ he built during his tenure. Some of these videos remain online.
Seven day suspension
However the Donald Trump account is now prevent from uploading any more videos for the next seven days.
According to CNN, YouTube also removed content from the White House’s channel for violating policy.
YouTube declined to reveal details of the video that earned Trump the strike, but said that after the one-week timeout, it will revisit the decision.
It is reported by the BBC that the offending video that earned the channel takedown concerns a press conference the President gave on Tuesday.
Imploding presidency
But the YouTube takedown is significant blow for Donald Trump who faces an implosion of his Presidency, with moves to impeach him a second time gaining traction after senior Republican figures signal their support for the move, prompting speculation Trump could be removed from office before his term ends on 20 January.
YouTube was the last remaining social network not to ban him.
Twitter last week has ‘permanently’ banned Donald Trump, and Facebook banned Donald Trump ‘indefinitely’ from its platforms (Instagram and Facebook).
Apple, Google and Amazon Web Services have also banned the far right messaging app Parler as big tech clamps down on the dangerous content being generated by Trump and his supporters.
Parler was a natural alternative for the President after his Twitter ban, as it is mostly used by his supporters and the right wing, and is also reportedly awash with QAnon conspiracy content.
Snapchat has locked Trump’s account, and Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform has also disabled his account on its platform.
Shopify, Pinterest, TikTok and Reddit have implemented steps to restrict content associated with the president and his calls for the results of the US election to be challenged.
Inciting violence
YouTube explained the reasoning for its decision.
“After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,” a YouTube spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
“As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days – which may be extended,” said the spokesperson.
YouTube also said it will be taking the extra step of disabling comments underneath videos on Trump’s channel.
Under YouTube’s policies, earning a second strike will result in a two-week suspension and three strikes will result in a permanent ban.
